I was very calm and collected going into this swim. I kept thinking about my fundamentals: breathe, pull, sight, repeat. I had someone swim into me once and it seemed to have been by mistake. I did not stop once throughout the swim! It was fantastic! I would give this swim an A+

According to Garmin, I swam 534m at a 3:05 pace. If this is true, I am very happy with my pace and simply have to improve my navigation/sighting/rounding of buoys.

Wetsuit is incredibly difficult to remove. Took a couple minutes to get over left heel. It was awful.
The rest of it went smoothly.
I forgot my glasses so that made for an interesting ride.

Get tri-glide.
Don't forget glasses

Biking is my least favourite portion of a triathlon. The miles expected out of me are ridiculous and it takes too long. I did have fun today though. I found myself being tenacious towards the middle through the end of the ride. Towards the beginning, I would feel sorry for myself every time I had to go up a hill but later on, I was taking those hills. I was taking no prisoners; I was moving despite myself. I am very happy with this change in mindset. Overall, I really enjoyed the bike!

I am incredibly proud of this ride since I developed strong cramps about halfway through. Nonetheless, I persevered.

Clipping in might help with generating more power. I should consider working with a coach to get some instruction so I know what to target to improve since I see gains to be made all over the place.

Since I was not changing my footwear (I rode with sneakers + no clip-in shoes), this was fairly quick. I followed my plan: Put bike away, put helmet away, put shirt with bib on, get glasses, leave.

A race belt would have made my life easier.

I was consistently concerned about rolling my ankle as the run was completely unpaved. I was gassed going into the run and let my body settle into a pace that felt right for it. I tried to push whenever it felt like there was something in the tank. Towards the end, a lady tried to pass me and I said no to that possibility. This made me push my pace into the 6:50 min/mile range and cross the finish line completely gassed. Made for a fun show. Overall, I enjoyed the run.

I was also battling cramps the entire run and at some point, I remember thinking to myself "I will NOT stop. If I can't run, I'll run slower; if I can't run slower, I'll walk; if I can't walk, I'll crawl; and if that doesn't work, I'll roll. But I WILL NOT not finish this race".

Use more of my glutei when biking so my quads are more fresh for the run.

None. I was in incredible, indescribable pain from the cramps so I quickly changed into dry clothes and left for home.


Cramps.
Lack of training on the bike
Navigation when swimming
Swimming technique and power


Overall, the race is well run. Coming from a running background, I was surprised to see that there weren't many booths with freebies after the race.